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Mako Shark
The Mako shark is a muscular fish with a tail fin shaped for speed.It can swim at up to 32 km an hour.It has sharp teeth, which it uses to grip slippery prey such as Tuna and Mackerel. Etymology In 1809, Constantine Rafinesque first described shortfin mako and coined the name Isurus oxyrinchus (Isurus means "the same tail", oxyrinchus means "pointy snout"). "Mako" comes from the Māori language,[2] meaning either the shark or a shark tooth. It may have originated in a dialectal variation as it is similar to the common words for shark in a number of Polynesian languages—''makō'' in the Kāi Tahu Māori dialect, mangō in other Māori dialects,[3] "mago" in Samoan, ma'o in Tahitian, and mano in Hawaiian. The first written usage is in Lee & Kendall's Grammar and vocabulary of the language of New Zealand (1820), which simply states "Máko; A certain fish".[4][5] Richard Taylor's A leaf from the natural history of New Zealand (in 1848) is more elaborate: "Mako, the shark which has the tooth so highly prized by the Maoris. Description The Shortfin Mako is a fairly large species of shark. An average adult specimen will measure around 3.2? m (10? ft) in length and weigh from 60–135 kg (130–300 lb). Females are larger than males. The largest "mako" taken (not verified between the two species) on hook-and-line was 505.8? kg (1,115? lb). Larger specimens are known, with a few large, mature females exceeding a length of 3.8? m (12? ft) and a weight of 570? kg (1,300? lb).[7] The longest verified length for a Shortfin Mako caught off France in September 1973, was 4.45? m (14.6? ft). A specimen caught off of Italy, and examined in an Italian fish market in 1881, was reported to weigh an extraordinary 1,000? kg (2,200? lb) at a length of 4? m (13? ft).[8] Growth rates appear to be somewhat more accelerated in the Shortfin Mako than they are in other species in the lamnid family.[7] Mako is cylindrical in shape, with a vertically-elongated tail that assists its highly hydrodynamic lifestyle. This species' color is brilliant metallic blue dorsally and white ventrally, although coloration varies as the shark ages and increases in size. The line of demarcation between blue and white on the body is distinct. The underside of the snout and the area around the mouth are white. Larger specimens tend to possess darker color that extends onto parts of the body that are white in smaller individuals. The juvenile mako differs in that it has a clear blackish stain on the tip of the snout. The Longfin mako shark very much resembles the Shortfin, but has larger pectoral fins, dark rather than pale coloration around the mouth and larger eyes. The presence of only one lateral keel on the tail and the lack of lateral cusps on the teeth distinguish the makos from the closely related porbeagle sharks of the genus Lamna.[7] Behavior The Shortfin Mako is the fastest species of shark. Its speed has been recorded at 50 kilometres per hour (31? mph) with bursts of up to 74 kilometres per hour (46? mph). They can leap approximate 9 metres (30? ft) high or higher in the air. Some scientists suggest that the shortfin mako can swim up to 100 kilometres per hour (62? mph), though scientists are still in debate over exactly how fast the shortfin mako shark can swim. This high-leaping fish is a highly sought-after game fish worldwide. There are cases when an angry mako jumped into a boat after having been hooked.q Category:Water animals Category:Hidden categories Category:small shark Category:killer sharks Category:Organization Category:Site maintenance Category:Q Category:Template documentation Category:General wiki templates Category:Community Category:Infobox templates Category:Policy